It's Friday again, so head back over to Transatlantic Blonde to check out some other perspectives about being a Feminist Mom.
Something that is super important to me about having a son is raising him to be a respectful man. I will feel like an absolute failure if he ends up being a chauvinist and feeling superior to women. So, along with giving him a good foundation to be successful in life, I have made it my goal to lay a foundation of chivalry, honesty, and equality in my little boy. Thankfully, I should have it pretty easy since my husband is 100% on board with it. With a great male role model to show how a real man acts and behaves, it shouldn't be too surprising to see Jeffrey grow up and imitate that behavior. I'm not saying that I want him to be that guy who is rushing around the car to open the door for his girlfriend/wife or throwing his jacket over a puddle so that she doesn't have to step in it. While that's nice every once in awhile, I don't like being treated like that. That furthers the thought that women are supposed to be his demure little things that need help. I want him to view girls as his equal and see no difference between everyone just because of their gender. I want him to respect a girl because of her intellect, brains and sense of humor and not just because she has boobs. Now, I do want him to know how and when to be romantic, but the majority of the time should be spent as partners.
My hope for my little boy is that he has a lot of female friends along with his male buddies and learns to respect people for who they are and not what they are.
Friday, August 6, 2010
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3 comments:
It is a very hard balance to teach our boys to be respectful and be a gentlemen without making woman feel like dainty girls who need a man to do things for them.
I think that being brought up in a home with a dad that models that behavior is best. He will see how to treat a woman as an equal but also how to show her respect.
Great post!
I agree; the balance is so difficult to get right! But the struggle top achieve the balance is completely worth it. One of my sons is in a class at school that has hardly any girls in it, and he hates that about it-- he doesn't want to have to play nothing but gender-stereotypical games and roles at play-time. Both of my boys know girls/women with strong identities, and think of them as people first and female second.
I totally agree. I like having doors held open for me, but I don't *need* it held open for me. It's hard to get that point across sometimes!
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